Monday, December 6, 2010

November 2010 SST Anomaly Update

########################MONTHLY SST ANOMALY MAPThe map of Global OI.v2 SST anomalies for November 2010 downloaded from the NOMADS website is shown below. With the exception of the South Atlantic, all ocean basins showed a decline in SST anomalies in November.

EAST INDIAN-WEST PACIFICThe SST anomalies in the East Indian and West Pacific made a major decline this month.

I’ve added this dataset in an attempt to draw attention to what appears to be the upward steps in response to significant El Niño events that are followed by La Niña events.http://i56.tinypic.com/2qnvzix.jpg
East Indian-West Pacific (60S-65N, 80E-180)
Monthly Change = -0.126 deg C

Note: I discussed the upward shift in the South Atlantic SST anomalies in the post The 2009/10 Warming Of The South Atlantic. Will the South Atlantic return to the level it was at before that surge or will it remain at a new plateau?

The weekly global SST anomalies are at +0.071 deg C. They do not appear as though they will drop to the level they had reached during the 2007/08 La Niña, even if one were to account for the differences in NINO3.4 SST anomalies. This of course will be raised as additional proof the global oceans are warming. But the reason the global SST anomalies have warmed in that time is due primarily to the fact that the East Indian and West Pacific Oceans warm in response to both El Niño and La Niña events. Keep in mind, the warm water released from below the surface of the Pacific Warm Pool doesn’t simply vanish at the end of the El Niño. Also, the unusual rise in South Atlantic SST anomalies has added to the trend.http://i54.tinypic.com/2j0e6p4.jpg
Weekly Global

7 comments:

There is an obvious 1-year lag between North Pacific and North Atlantic, Pacific being the first. Present AMO peak is equivalent of North Pacific SST peak in 2009. Strange that Pinatubo affected Atlantic, but not so Pacific record. Otherwise they can be overlaid pretty well.

Alayne: There are a number of things. The Reynolds OI.v2 has a seasonal component. It shows warm anomalies at high latitudes very summer (both hemispheres). You can see the seasonal shifts in the animations I have on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKMY4JRN0kk

Additionally, this year started in El Nino conditions, and the Arctic sea ice melt is greater during the Northern Hemisphere summers after an El Nino, as are North Atlantic SST anomalies in general.

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Comments that are political in nature or that have nothing to do with the post will be deleted.####The Smith and Reynolds SST Posts DOES NOT LIST ALL SST POSTS. I stopped using ERSST.v2 data for SST when NOAA deleted it from NOMADS early in 2009.

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